Port Authority reverses course on health benefits

In a rare reversal, the Port Authority has retreated from a measure it approved last month that would have stripped unions of their power to negotiate health care benefits.

The decision, a victory for organized labor, comes after national and regional union leaders exerted pressure on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who shares control of the agency with Republican Governor Christie. Unions saw the resolution as an assault on an elemental component of organized labor: the right to decide worker pay and benefits at the bargaining table.

Similar efforts to reduce government spending by limiting a union’s power to negotiate pay and benefits have ignited protests and stirred debates nationwide — including in New Jersey, where Christie signed a law last year that suspended collective bargaining and required state workers to pay higher health care contributions.

The choreography leading up to the Port Authority’s reversal — and the extent to which union pressure played a role — remained mostly a mystery Monday. Wednesday. Port Authority officials portrayed the initial decision as a technical error that distorted the true intentions of the agency’s governor-appointed commissioners. It was caught only after the resolution was approved last month, they said.

But records show that the resolution was withdrawn only three days after the leader of a national coalition of law enforcement unions wrote a letter to Cuomo, urging him to use his veto power over the agency.

In addition to the letter, the executive director of the 241,000-member National Association of Police Organizations said he asked Vice President Joseph Biden to

intervene during a meeting at the White House. William J. Johnson said Biden was “shocked” to hear about the Port Authority move.

“He rolled his eyes, leaned forward in his chair and said, ‘What?’Ÿ” Johnson said. A spokesman for the vice president would not comment Mondayon whether Biden acted on Johnson’s request.

Several Port Authority union leaders also remained tight-lipped, apparently fearful of angering both governors, who will have to sign off on future contracts.

“Health care is back on the bargaining table, and we’re looking forward to a fair and equitable agreement,” said Mario Gomes, the president of the 183-member Local Union 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Twelve of the Port Authority’s 13 employee unions, which make up two-thirds of the agency’s 6,800-person workforce, are working under expired contracts. Health care contributions promise to be a major part of negotiations.

Currently, only 7 percent of Port Authority employees contribute to their health insurance premiums. That needs to change, a Christie spokesman said Monday.

“As a general matter, I think everyone knows that the days of free health care coverage in public-sector employment are over,” said Michael Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman. “The Port Authority should be no different in that regard. Most private-sector employees have already lost that luxury.”

A Cuomo spokesman did not return a call for comment.

Christie and Cuomo have taken different paths to getting higher health contributions from public-sector workers in their respective states. While Christie imposed them on state workers through legislation that temporarily limited collective bargaining, Cuomo got unions to agree to higher contributions and other concessions by threatening layoffs.

Both are said to be potential future candidates for national office, but as a Democrat, Cuomo would likely rely on support from organized labor, experts say.

On other reform efforts at the Port Authority, Christie and Cuomo have found broad agreement. Since last year’s controversial toll hikes, the governors’ appointees have eliminated extra pay for non-union employees, stripped retirees’ free E-ZPass benefits and pledged greater transparency.

They also jointly commissioned an audit that branded the agency “dysfunctional.”

A Port Authority spokesman said a new resolution would be presented to commissioners at their meeting next week. A second resolution that created a new security chief at the Port Authority was also withdrawn because it contained language that limited collective bargaining. It will also be presented to the board again.

Commissioners, he said, had intended last month to pass a resolution that made clear that union employees would contribute to their health care costs, like other agency employees. But the level of their contributions would be decided during negotiations under the new resolution that will be presented to the board, he said.

A Port Authority official, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity, said the withdrawn resolutions were never sent to the governors for review. Each governor has 10 days to veto decisions by the Port Authority, although vetoes are rare, as are withdrawn resolutions.